Tory Peer Lord Hanningfield is facing suspension for a clocking-in allowances claim which saw him paid £300 a day for spending less than 40 minutes in Parliament.

The former Essex County Council leader was unable to prove he did any work on the 11 days in July 2013 he clocked in and out for in under an hour.

He told the Commissioner for Standards in an interview during the investigation into his claims that it was not "worth it" for him to attend for any less.

During the investigation into his claims, Lord Hanningfield said he claimed the full daily allowance because he needed to run his staff while he worked as a peer, including "Bruce" who looked after his Bernese mountain dog, Theodore, and his chickens.

He also said that too many children on the Tube had caused him to panic and want to return home as soon as possible.

The peer told the committee that his time in jail had led to a loss of confidence, which had meant he was unable to spend long in Parliament. He also blamed ill-health.

The peer said following his imprisonment he "felt a lot like when I first started in 1998 ... I did not feel able to begin addressing my fellow peers again until my confidence had been sufficiently restored.

Although he was unable to say why he had spent such a limited amount of time in Parliament on the 11 days in question, however, he suggested it could have been because of the number of children on the tube.

He said: "July was very difficult because—and I am pleased that there were—there were thousands of children visiting London and you could not get a seat on the tube. In fact, a couple of times I felt so awful I had to ask someone to give me a seat.

"It was particularly bad at those times and I can remember slightly panicking and wanting to get home again because of the amount of people around."

Lord Hanningfield was investigated after a complaint from the Labour MP John Mann following a report in the Daily Mirror, which gave the details of 11 of his July attendances, the shortest of which was 21 minutes and the longest 38.

When confronted by journalists he claimed 50 other peers were doing the same but was later unable to provide details.

The House of Lords will consider the committee's report and decide whether to suspend Lord Hanningfield on Tuesday.

Mr Mann said the Government should introduce legislation in next month's Queen's Speech to automatically expel anyone committing a criminal offence from the House of Lords.

He said: "A one-year ban is hopelessly inadequate. Lord Hanningfield should be banned for life."